2026 PSU vs. Minnesota

Back to 2026 Schedule

General Pre-Game Information

• Game Ten of 2026 season—This is the next to last home game on Penn State’s Big Ten schedule and has been designated as the 15th Military Appreciation Day Game due, in part, to its proximity to Veterans Day (Nov. 11). Penn State (0-0, 0-0/12-2 on Military Appreciation Day) has only played Minnesota as a member of the Big Ten since the 1993 season when the Governors’ Victory Bell Trophy was first contested. This is the 18th Governors’ Victory Bell Game and first since 2024. The Minnesota Golden Gophers (0-0, 0-0) are coming off their home date with UCLA.

• Last PSU Game played (Sat., Nov. 7): Penn State X Washington X at Husky Stadium

• Current Rankings: CFP Poll-TBA / AP Poll-TBA / US LBM Coaches Poll-TBA

• Minnesota 2025 Record: 8-5 overall, 5-4 in Big Ten (0-5 on road)—Head Coach: PJ Fleck (10th season)—Fleck (2017-present) is 1-2 vs. Penn State (0-1 at Beaver Stadium) with the Golden Gophers.

• 18th meeting with Minnesota all-time (9th at Beaver Stadum): Penn State is 11-6 all-time vs. Minnesota (6-2 at home/5-4 away)—The series dates to the 1993 season opening PSU 38-20 win at Beaver Stadium which marked the Nittany Lions official Big Ten conference game debut (Note: Penn State had in fact been an official Big Ten member when it lost 24-3 to Stanford in the Jan. 1, 1993 Blockbuster Bowl). Penn State has won 7 of their last 9 meetings (2 in a row) since 2005 with 2 of those victories coming in overtime (2006 & 2016). Minnesota’s last win in this series was in 2019 in Minneapolis (PS lost 31-26 at then TCF Bank Stadium) in coach PJ Fleck’s first game against the Nittany Lions that effectively took PSU out of Big Ten title contention and the CFP playoff picture.

  LINK TO HISTORY OF BIG TEN RIVALRY TROPHY GAMES

• Last Penn State Game vs. Minnesota (2024 in Minneapolis): #4 PSU who was favored by nearly 2 touchdowns wins narrowly, 26-25 over unranked Minnesota at Huntington Bank Stadium. Drew Allar QB passed for 244 yards (21 of 28) and 1 TD on a 45-yard bomb in the 2nd quarter to a wide-open Omari Evans. Penn State’s defense delivered 9 TFLs, 1 sack, 1 fumble recovery, and 1 INT while holding Minnesota to only 2 field goals in the second half. But this game hinged on special teams, and it was an up and down day in this department for the Nittany Lions. Penn State special teams were hurt by a partially blocked punt that led to a Minnesota TD, and by a blocked kick on an extra point attempt that resulted in 2 points for Minnesota. Luckily, the Lions delivered a memorable fake punt in the fourth quarter that, combined with the offense converting two other 4th and 1’s, consumed the game clock, burned the Gophers’ timeouts, and locked down the 1-point victory on a Saturday that had been riddled with upsets on a national scale. The key play in the greatest “scoreless” drive in PSU history comes on 4th and 1 at the State 34. Penn State sends on the punt unit. But Nittany Lion coaches had greenlighted center protector Dominic Rulli (Redshirt-Soph. walk-on) to change to the fake punt if Minnesota stacked 10 in the box at the line. Rulli sees what he needs to see and signals the fake. True Freshman tight end Luke Reynolds, the right-side protector, who had been the victim of the earlier blocked punt, gets redemption. Luke takes the direct snap as punter Riley Thompson leaps to sell the ball sailing over his head. Reynolds bolts left behind the blocking of True Freshman lineman Cooper Cousins and Dom Rulli for a 32-yard dash to the Minnesota 34. Allar, Nick Singleton, and Tyler Warren do the rest as Penn State improves to 10-1 and completes its first 5-0 road season slate since 1994.

• Last PSU Game vs. Minnesota at Beaver Stadium (2022): #16 PSU wins 45-17 over unranked Minnesota in the second ever Homecoming Whiteout game (and the first Whiteout to feature Generations of Greatness throwback uniforms/helmets). It was the first TV primetime broadcast of a Homecoming & a Generations of Greatness game in Nittany Lions history (ABC-TV). The 45 points is the most ever scored by Penn State in a Whiteout and was highlighted by 295 yards and 4 TD passes from 6th year Senior QB Sean Clifford and 2 TD runs by Freshman RB Nick Singleton. Note: future PSU running back Trey Potts played for Minnesota in this game (5 rushes, 7 yards) and in 2023 he would become first player in appear in Whiteouts as both a visitor and a Penn Stater.

• Memorable PSU moment from the 2016 Minnesota game at Beaver Stadium: PSU won 29-26 in OT in the game that turned around the season and set stage for a run to an unlikely Big Ten Championship. Fans were loudly unhappy with the 2-2 start to the season and the beatdown loss at Michigan the week before that left the Lions’ linebacking corps in a shambles. Now, the Lions were struggling at home with unranked (but unbeaten) Minnesota and looked like a team that would soon be under .500. Penn State was down by 10, up by 7, then forced to deliver a 40-yard field goal (Tyler Davis) with 2 seconds to go just to reach overtime. Minnesota had keyed on stopping Saquon Barkley and it worked for 60 minutes—Barkley was 19 for 38 on the ground (23 yds. came on a single 1st period run) and he’d lost 3 yards on his lone pass reception. The problem was this game lasted longer than 60 minutes. In the first OT, Minnesota went up again, 26-23 on a 46-yard field goal. The Nittany Lions now had their first possession. It was 1st and 10 at the Minnesota 25. Minnesota has kept Saquon under wraps all day long, but as offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead would say later, “trust the process”, they have to stop Saquon every time, he only needs to get loose once, and he did. Trace McSorley takes the snap, puts the ball in Saquon’s gut, and checks the defense. Options—Saquon run or quarterback keeper? The Minnesota right defensive end is left unblocked by PSU’s left tackle Brendan Mahon who stuffs the Gophers right defensive tackle instead. The Gophers end stutter steps forward, then hesitates to see who really has the ball. It’s pick your poison time—McSorley or Barkley. By the time he realizes it’s Barkley, Saquon is exploding past him. Saquon cuts up field with the end in pursuit; Barkley breaks the ankles of the DB who tries to cut him off, and he’s clear to the endzone. The end, who never gives up, dives at Saquon’s feet from behind at the 6-yard line, but Saquon high steps into the endzone for the instant game-winning, season saving-moment. There is NO 2016 Big Ten title, and no 2017 Rose Bowl, without this unforgettable play. Note: This game is also remembered for safety Marcus Allen’s 22 tackles (which tied the PSU Beaver Stadium record set by Ron Crosby LB vs. Ohio Univ. in 1974) and for the blindside, cheap shot hit on walk-on kicker Joey Julius that resulted in the ejection of the Gophers player.

• Military Appreciation Game records: PSU is 12-2 all-time in this event which began in 2012 vs. Navy. PSU is also 8-2 vs. Big Ten opponents and 2-0 vs. Military Academy teams (wins over Navy in 2012 and Army in 2015). Last year’s game featured a 27-24 loss to #2 Indiana. The only other Nittany Lions loss (35-19) came vs. Maryland in 2020. Note: Only 10 of the 15 games in this annual tradition have actually been scheduled in November in reasonable proximity to Veterans Day on November 11th (although two of the non-November games were against the military academies). Only the 2017 game vs. Rutgers (a 35-6 PSU win) was actually played on Nov. 11, and it was also Homecoming. This is Minnesota’s first ever appearance on Military Appreciation Day at Beaver Stadium.

• 1st Xpm ET kick for PSU in 2026 season.

  TV/Radio Information

• TV Game Announcers: TBA

• First game televised on X since

• This is the xx game this season to be televised on a traditional or non-traditional TV Network

• Penn State Radio Network Announcers: Steve Jones (PBP), Jack Ham (Analyst), & Brian Tripp (Sidelines). Jones & Ham are in their 27th season in the booth together. Ham, a member of both the CHOF (1990) and Pro Football Hall of Fame (1988), played linebacker at Penn State (1968-70). Jones (Class of 1980) & Tripp (Class of 2011) are also Penn State grads.